The present invention represents an improvement that may be used in connection with systems described U.S. Pat. No. 7,092,891 entitled “Secure Medical Records Maintenance System” (“the 891 patent”) and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/892,184 entitled “Mobile Data Management System” (the 184 application”). The 891 patent describes a hand-held health monitoring device, such as a blood cholesterol testing meter, that works with a smartcard and a dual-server, secure medical records maintenance system. The 891 patent also describes a financial system in which the patient can use the smartcard to pay for tests provided by the health monitoring device. The 184 application describes a medical data handling system in which a patient's personal and emergency medical treatment information, including insurance information, is stored on a smartcard that is carried by the patient. In an emergency situation, the smartcard is read by a card reader carried on an ambulance, and the information carried on the card is transmitted to the hospital while the patient is in transit to the hospital. Medical readings, treatment applied to the patient, and observations by the EMT personnel during the transport are also recorded on the smartcard and transmitted to the hospital while the while the patient is in transit to the hospital. This allows the hospital to prepare an admission report in advance of the patient's arrival to facilitate the admission process once the patient arrives.
In view of the forgoing systems that aid in the medical treatment of the patient, the smartcard carried by the patient is expected to become a very important piece of equipment. Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for cost effective technologies to improve the functionality and ease of use of the smartcards and associated systems. Of course, medical and financial information is very sensitive and needs to be handled with a high degree of security. At the same time, the patients can benefit from a high degree of functionality and consolidation of that functionality on a single, secure instrument.